RB Salzburg sounds after winning at Rapid: “We are ready” – football
Woe betide you if you let go!
Two games, two wins – with the home win against LASK, RB Salzburg extended the permanent ticket in the ÖFB Cup semi-finals, at the start of the second half of the Bundesliga season the Bulls rejected SK Rapid in a 2-1 win in Vienna-Hütteldorf (match report >>>) in the closets.
So everything is going according to plan with the people of Mozart’s town, one might even think that everything is as usual. Winning goal scorer Noah Okafor got to the point after the final whistle on “Sky” – even if future opponents don’t like to hear that. “It was a long preparation. We prepared well for the season. Last week the win against LASK, now for the start of the second half of the season against Rapid – I think we’re ready.”
From Salzburg’s point of view, it was a “fighting game” – with a happy ending. Rapid coach Feldhofer emphasized “that we quickly got the same quality onto the pitch for a long time” (Click here for the story >>>). A view that his opponent Matthias Jaissle probably shares less: “It was a deserved victory, even if the course of the game put obstacles in our way. Rapid did well, fought to the end and fought tough duels. But we were prepared for it,” said the Salzburg coach at the press conference after the game.
The early goal didn’t play into the guests’ cards. As against LASK in the cup, the Bulls went in this time and stayed that way until the 64th minute. “It wasn’t easy after conceding a goal early on from a set piece. Rapid then played more defensively after taking the lead. But in the second half we approached it with the necessary patience and determination and did really well right up to the end.”
Turned things around patiently and with loyalty to Matchplan
Still, it wasn’t Salzburg’s best game. Due to the resistance of the Hütteldorfers, Salzburg didn’t fire a single shot on goal in the first 45 minutes – a rarity in the offensive fireworks that the Bulls usually deliver.
Accordingly, the break speech should have been crisp, even if Jaissle expresses it calmly. “Above all, I gave them the message that they have to be patient and that sticking to the match plan is important. The young team is then quickly willing to rush to equalize after a goal. But we have that in the second Did a much better half-time and then deservedly won because of the many chances to score.”
Okafor sees it similarly, it was like a defiant reaction after what he saw as an unfortunate goal. “We then had the game completely under control and wanted our first goal. We were even more aggressive then, let the ball run even faster, wanted to open up more gaps up front with more movement to create chances. That worked.”
The 21-year-old Swiss emphasizes the importance of Aaronson’s 1-1, but is all the more happy about his match winner – after strong preliminary work from Joker Junior Adamu. “He’s doing great. I was waiting for it, we’ve practiced it a lot. I sprinted to the first post, the ball came great from Junior, I just have to keep my foot in.” In the end it was just a fight with long balls in which Salzburg got away well.
“We didn’t expect that”
Rapid’s line-up came as a surprise at first glance, even for Salzburg mastermind Jaissle, who “we didn’t expect one or the other change.” However, the formation with a diamond, which had already prevailed in the preparation, was known.
Salzburg isn’t actually looking for possession, but in Vienna it looks 70:30 percent because Rapid didn’t want the ball. But the cops have also made friends with that. “In the Champions League we basically had a lot of games where we had a lot of possession. It’s hard to say. Sometimes we’re extremely effective at switching when the opponent has more possession. But we can also be good when we have more possession ‘ the coach is torn.
However, that is expected to change on Wednesday. “Bayern will probably look for solutions with the ball and not just focus on second balls, as was the case today,” the German thinks of the showdown in the premier class.
Adeyemi not yet old, future is open
Where Karim Adeyemi also comes into focus, who has a past with the German record champions. The 14-time goalscorer is still there, but not the old man yet. Nevertheless, the league favorite is happy that the striker is back. Just like Nicolas Seiwald, who made a lightning comeback after his knee injury.
However, Adeyemi still lacks a little lightness – understandable, since he was unable to take part in parts of the preparation. “He’s still missing a few grains,” explains Jaissle. The 20-year-old youngster rarely appeared dangerous against Rapid and lacked his speed dribbling against the deep Rapid defence. Nevertheless, the German does not worry.
“It was my first game this year, we won, that’s the most important thing. Apart from the performance, we have the three points,” says the offensive player at “Sky”. He will always have that ease. “I’m trying to help the team, this time too. Maybe not everything went so well, but I’ll keep pushing.”
His future decision doesn’t seem to bother him, because he stays cool on the subject. “No one knows that yet. Nothing is certain, my full focus is on Salzburg. I don’t know either. I already know what I want, namely to play football. That’s the priority,” Adeyemi says, not looking at the cards.
Wöber: “Cooler in front of a full crowd than in a half-empty stadium”
In the end, Salzburg kidnapped three points from the Allianz Stadium – which looked pretty deserted with 2,000 instead of the 28,000 allowed from Saturday. The defending champion denied Rapid’s request for a postponement. But Maximilian Wöber, who was whistled at by the few green-white spectators because of his move to Salzburg, would have preferred to play in front of a full house.
“Of course, in a game like this, where almost every duel and every second ball is at stake, 30,000 spectators would have helped Rapid more than 2,000. It’s a pity that it didn’t work out because of a few hours. Of course, for us players it would have been cooler in front of a full crowd than in a half-empty stadium.”
But that doesn’t change the fact that Salzburg has arrived in 2022. Two games, two wins – what more could you ask for? “That gives us a lot because we won a game that was hard fought. We started the calendar year well,” says Jaissle. “That gives us momentum for the party against Bayern.”